Speaking to local news outlet the Mansfield Chad, Christine confirmed that Richard has now been brought out of sedation.

“He was having a lot of oxygen ventilation, a lot more than a normal person would need, through a pipe, as well as lot of antibiotics,” she told the paper. “They kept him like that for a week and we hadn’t left his side, at one point we really felt we might lose him.

“That went on until his temperature went down and then on Wednesday they did a tracheostomy to improve his breathing and bring him off sedation.

“It was such a relief when he opened his eyes, although he’s not responding to us very well yet we can see that he is getting better.”

“The doctors have said that he is very distressed and confused after being in a coma for a week, which you can understand, and that we need to keep talking to him and reminding him of where he is,” she continued. “There’s a long way to go yet, but this is a very positive step and it has eased my mind.”

As many people know, my son @richardpbacon has been in a medically induced coma in intensive care for a week but he’s young, he’s fit and the NHS have been brilliant, and I’m sure he’ll come through this. Been very worrying. We’ve received so many lovely messages👏

The week before, he posted a picture of himself in a hospital bed with the caption: “Thank God I got ill in Britain (actually on the way to Britain, was taken off the plane in a wheelchair). Fuck all the ideology driven politicians who’ve messed up America’s healthcare system. Viva the NHS.”

Richard and his family are currently based in the US, having relocated to Los Angeles in September 2014.

Since calling time on his BBC 5 Live radio show to make the move Stateside, he’s landed numerous jobs, hosting programmes on CBS and National Geographic Channel.